Feeding mechanism



Sept. 13, 1938. M. D. HEYMAN 2,130,235

FEEDING MECHANISM Filed June 20, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet l 0* v 6 gr/L910; w 475 INVENTOR 114 m 117 MOSES l2 HEYMAN 1 @SM M B TTORNEY Sept. 13, 1938. M D HEYMAN 2,130,235

FEEDING MECHANI SM Filed June 20, 1936 5 Shets-Sheet 2 I INVENTOR M0556 0. f/EVMA/V g g 7 :AiTORNEY Sept. 13, 1938. M, D. HEYMAN FEEDING MECHANISM Filed June 20, 1936- 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 3 4 o 3 v m a w Lmd [ii Ml U; M H m h 2 J 5 V e 0 7 a 4 w z? n /J O 9 m 7 0 M z INVENTOR M0555 0. HE YMAN TTORNEY Sept. 13, 1938. M. D. HEYMAN FEEDING MECHANISM Filed June 20, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR MOSES 0. HE YMAN M. D. HEYMAN FEEDING MECHANISM Sept. 13, 1938.

Filed June 20, 1936 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR M M H 0 5 m. Mm

Patented Sept. 13, was i s 2,130,235

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE resume MECHANISM Moses D. Heyman, Hewlett, N. Y., assignmof one-half to Irene K. Heyman, Hewlett, N. Y.

Application June 20, 1936, Serial No. 86,275

13 Claims. (CL 161-87) This invention relates to mechanisms for feed- The arrangement and proportion of the parts ing relatively small irregular shaped pieces of may be varied to suit the application of the instock to a punch press. While th mechanism vention, and these drawings together with the as herein disclosed contemplates the feeding of following detailed specification should be treated mica, it is apparent that the invention may be as exemplary only.

employed with other types of material where In he drawin s: difllculty is encountered in safely feeding such Fi u e 1 is a front e vat enal View Of a feedpieces to a press. ing mechanism constructed in accordance with The long felt need of a device as herein conthis invention.

templated will become readily apparent when it Figure 2 S a top P a View thereof, P y in 10 is understood that mica which is mined in pieces n, ow s application to a punch P sof varying sizes, only has a commercial market Figure 3 is a plan sectional view as taken subin the larger sizes, since it is only these sizes that stentlelly along the line 3 Figure may be safely handled in punch presses. How- Figure 4 is a side elevational view as seen from l5 ever, the smaller pieces of mica, though large the left of Figure 1. enough to form certain commercial parts, cannot Figure 5 S a Ve t cal sectional View as taken at present be safely handled since the punch along the line Figure press operator can only position said small pieces Figure 6 i 11 Ver i al S t onal View as k n on the die of the press by hand. This manual substantially along e e of Figure feed has proven quite dangerous, causing a con- Figure 7 is an elevational view of one of the 20 siderable loss to the manufacturer i working pneumatic or vacuum controlled valves shown in time, insurance compensation, etc., and to the Figure 6. operator in mutilated hands, as can be well Fi ur 8 s a fra ary v rt al s t nal understood. view showing the means for removing scrap The present invention therefore seeks to prom e from the Vicinity 0f the 25 vide a mechanism, either in form of an attach- Figures 9 a d 0 a e p v y n arged dement to a punch press or as an integrally detailed sectional views of the transfer and removsigned portion thereof, through the medium of a1 arm Suction swhich an operator may safely and rapidly feed u e 11 S a Semi-diagrammatic View Of a small, irregularly shaped pieces of mica to be punch press equipped w e d meehanism 0 operated on by the press. as contemplated in this invention.

The invention also contemplates the provision n r ater d ta th pu p ss p at A of means, controlled by the feeding mechanism, which supports the die B is usually formed with for tripping the press in synchronous relation a front face C. In the present instance this face with the movements of the feeding mechanism is utilized for the securing of a bed or frame i5 35 parts. in fixed relation to the punch press and hence Another contemplated feature resides in the 0 e the bed being Provided with e Vertiemployment of vacuum means for effecting the el flang l6 cooperating With the platen ace C transfer of the mica pieces to the press. or this purp More specifically the invention contemplates a secured to the f ame l5 are a s c as a 40 device wherein the operator may place a piece p ura ty of tube rod Separators to which of mice. or the like upon a replica or close simuare secured a sub-base i8. In order to insure lation of the part produced by the press at a g d ty to the above described assembly of base point considerably remote from the punch and and sub-base, adjustable supports in the form of die thereof, means for transferring said piece of jacks such as shown at 19 may be interposed be- 45 mica to be acted upon by the punch and die, and tween the bottom of the sub-base and the floor means for removing the finished mica part from upon which the press is supported. These jacks the die and for disposing of the resultant scrap may also serve to afford accurate vertical posior fragment of mica to leave said die clear for the tioning of the mentioned base assembly which, reception of an oncoming mica piece. when thus positioned is fixedly bolted to the press 50 The accompanying drawings, which, though platen. considerably detailed and illustrating a feeding Upon the base I5 and supported in journals mechanism as at present contemplated, are inthere is carried a cam shaft 2| upon which is tended only as an example of a preferred manmounted the loose drive pulley 22 having a clutch ner of accomplishing the purposes of invention, member 23. Upon an extension 24 of the cam 56 shaft that is slidably keyed as at 25 a cams member 26, having engagement with the clutch member 23, and provided with a spool 21. In the groove of the spool are arranged pins 28 carried on a fork 23, preferably pivoted as at 30 to a bracket mounted upon the floor. maintain the clutch members in disengaged rela-. tion and they are maintained in engaged relation by the depressing of a foot pedal 32 which, through a connection such as the cable 33, is designed to force the clutch fork 23 to urge the clutch member 26 against the spring 3| to engage the clutch member 23.

The pulley 22 may be driven from an overhead shaft and the flywheel D of the punch press is similarly driven. However it may be arranged to provide a belt 34 between the pulley 22 and fiywheel D so that the feeding mechanism is driven from the press.

Above the bed or frame |5 there is mounted a rotatable table 35, this table being mounted upon a spacer 35 to which is also amxed a ratchet wheel 31. The table and spacer are preferably affixed to each other as by means of bolts 38 and together are arranged to rotate about a fixed hollow sleeve 33 carried by the bed. The table is arranged to be intermittently rotated by means of a cam 43 on the cam shaft 2|. Upon each revolution of said cam shaft, a roller 42 on a slide 43 is engaged by said cam. The slide also carries a spring tensioned dog 44 having engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 31. Spring means such as shown at 45 serves to retain the roller 42 against the contour of the cam 40.

The table 35 is provided, adjacent its peripheral edge, with a plurality of stock receiving stations 46, and it is desired in the present instance to form these stations as replicas or close simulations of the ultimate part produced in the die of the punch press. These may either be painted on the table or applied to the surface thereof in any suitable manner.

As illustrated, the number of stations is commensurate with the number of teeth on the ratchet wheel and hence each reciprocation of the slide 44 will cause an advancement of the table a distance equivalent to a spacing between two stations.

A transfer arm 4! is mounted for oscillation upon the bed I5 and is oscillated about its center by the following mechanism driven by a crank 48 on the cam shaft 2|.

The crank 48 is connected by means of a link 43 to a reciprocatory slide 53, said slide being provided with a cam 5| which engages a cam roll upon an arm 52 fixed on a sleeve 53-forming the vertical portion of the transfer arm 41. To insure contact of the cam follower against the cam 5| at all times, another arm 54 on the sleeve 53 is connected to a pilot rod 55 upon which is positioned a coil spring 56 located between an abutment 51 upon said pilot rod and a fixedabutment 58. Hence, the cam 5| serves to move the arm 4! against the spring in one direction and the spring 51 serves to move the arm as controlledby the cam in the other direction.

The removal arm 53 which is carried on a sleeve 53 within the sleeve 33 is also mounted for oscillation as by the following mechanism. The slide 50 is provided with another cam 5| which is engaged by a cam follower on the end of an arm 82 fixed on a vertically mounted sleeve 83. This sleeve is also formed with an arm 64 substantially parallel to the arm 52 and a link connection 55 is made between the end of the arm 54 and an inter- A spring 8| serves to mediate point 85 of the removal arm 53. A third arm 81- is also provided on the sleeve 58, and to this arm there is pivoted a pilot rod 53 upon which is strung a coil spring 83 positioned between a shoulder 13 on the pilot rod and a fixed abutment From the foregoing it can be seen that the cam I 8| serves to move the removal arm 53 against the spring in one direction, and the spring serves to urge the removal arm 53 as controlled by the cam in the other direction.

The arm 41 is also arranged, in addition to its oscillatory movement, for vertical movement. This is accomplished through the medium of a cam 12 carried by the slide 53 engaging a roller on one arm 13 of a bell crank lever pivoted at I4, the other arm of said lever being forked asat I5 and provided with inwardly inreaching pins 15 for engagement with a spool 11, said spool .being mounted for vertical movement upon a vertical sleeve 18. Upon this sleeve is also mounted the transfer arm sleeve 53. The upper end of the fixed sleeve 18 is provided with an abutment l3, and between said abutment and the sleeve 53 there is arranged a coil spring 80. Hence, it will be seen that the arm 41 is not only arranged for oscillation around the fixed sleeve 18 but may be moved vertically in both directions as controlled by the cam 12 and the spring 80.

The removal arm 53 is also mounted for vertical reciprocation. The cam 8| on the cam shaft 2| is arranged to engage a roll 82 on a push rod 83 mounted for vertical but non-rotational movement in the bed I5. This push rod is provided with a lower end 84 adapted for engagement by an adjustable screw 85 on one end 88 of a bell crank lever pivoted at 81 and forked as at 88, said forked end being provided with inreaching pins 83 engageable in a spool 33 carried on the end of the vertically movable sleeve 50. Between said spool 30 and abutment 3| there is arranged a coil spring 32. It is apparent from the above that the cam 8| serves to raise the sleeve 80, and hence the removal arm 53 against the spring 32, said spring serves to lower said arm under the control of said cam.

It should be understood that the movements of the two arms 41 and 53 are arranged in a certain preferred synchronous relation which is substantially as follows.

Starting with the arm 41 in the position shown in Figure 2, said arm first moves down to contact a piece of stock at that station to lift said stock in a manner later to be described; it is then moved upwardly with said stock and is rocked so said stock is centered upon the die B. When in this position it is again moved downwardly to deposit the stock upon the die and then moved upwardly and swung back to its initial position.

During the latter part of the motion of the arm 41, the arm 53 which has removed a finished piece of work from the die, starts from its position shown in Figure 2 to swing towards the die and then down to pick up a finished piece of work.

It then moves up and across to the right where the work which it carries is dropped. During the period when both of said arms are remote from the die, that is when the arm 41 is moving towards the table and the arm 53 is starting towards the die, the punch press is arranged to operate upon the piece deposited by the arm 41 and the punch of said die is arranged to return to its elevated condition before the removal arm 53 arrives to remove the finished work. It will be noted therefore that it is desired to have the cam a AMA shaft which controls the movements of the arms 47 and 59, also controls the punch press which is of the one revolution type. For this purpose a cam 93 is provided on the cam shaft 2!, said cam having a lug arranged, upon each revolution of the cam shaft, to depress a lever 96 pivoted at 85 to the punch press and connected to the press clutch release rod 93. Upon said release, in the usual manner the press will perform its single cycle of operation, that is, a depression and elevation of the punch member.

The foregoing is descriptive of the mechanical features of the mechanism, and it is apparent therefrom that considerable changes in design may be effected without departing from the principles of the invention as contemplated.

In the present instance it is preferred to employ vacuum means for the purpose of effecting the transfer of the stock to the die and the finished work from the die to a point of disposal.

While outside means for providing vacuum or suction might be employed, it is preferred, in the present instance, to provide a vacuum pump 91 driven by an electric motor 98, both said pump and said motor being preferably supported upon and carried by the sub-base I3. The suction provided by the pump 97 is preferably applied through a filter chamber 93 connected to said pump as at I00. A connection IIII is made from said filter chamber to the upper part of a vacuum control valve body I02 and a similar connection I03 is made to another vacuum control valve body ms.

- and connections, the valve I01 Both of these valve bodies are substantially similar in construction and therefore a description of one would suit the other. The suction on the line IOI is therefore applied in the chamber I05 of the valve body I02, and hence upon the upper face I 06 of a piston valve I 01 held by said suction and by a coil spring i08 against seat I09. Further serving to retain said valve in its elevated position against the seat I09, it is preferred to freely admit atmospheric pressure to the inner hollow portion of said valve as through the passage Ill.

The valve I? is provided with a series of circumferentially arranged ports III which, when the valve is in elevated position, communicate the mentioned atmospheric pressure through the passages I I2 to a piping connection I I3 which is connected to the hollow of the vertical sleeve 60 upon which is carried the removal arm 59. A connection II 0 is made between said sleeve 60 and the chamber H5 in the suction head N6 of said removal arm.

To said head may be applied a fitting i I! designed to suit the shape and size of the work-piece to be handled.

It is apparent from the above that with the valve I01 in the elevated position, atmospheric pressure will enter through the port or passage M0 to fill the passages H2, connection II 3, sleeve 60, connection. I M, and fitting Hi. In order to apply suction through the mentioned passages is depressed through the medium of a cam H8 on the cam shaft 2|, said cam acting upon a roller II 9 on a pivoted arm I bracketed as at IN to the vacuum control valve body I02. The arm 20 engages a valve stem I22 which, passing through a stuffing box I23, engages the top of the valve IOI to depress it as shown in the dotted lines of Figure '7. The ports III will be cut off from the passages II2 to seal said passages against atmospheric pressure and the suction which has at -the stations 46.

been applied through the connection IN to the chamber I05 will now be applied to said passages and to all the connections previously mentioned so that a work-piece which is in contact with the fitting II I will be held thereagainst bythe lack of pressure in the mentioned passages and connections, and by the atmospheric pressure which is normally exerted on the outer face of said work piece.

Thus it can be seen that under the control of the cam H8, suction is applied to the fitting II! when the removal arm is moved down over the die to pick up a finished work piece therefrom, and the design of the cam H8 is such that the suction will be maintained until said arm has swung to the position shown in the broken lines of Figure 2 where the suction is broken to permit the piece to fall away from said fitting. If it is found, however, that said piece might be inclined to stick, simple means may be utilized for either jogging said arm or for brushing the piece therefrom.

In the manner above described, suction may also be applied to the head I24 of the transfer arm 47 but in this instance the suction is applied through the connection I03 and is controlled by the valve mechanism I04 through the medium of the cam I25 on the cam shaft'ZI.

To insure that the die is free of all the scrap or waste pieces resulting from the punching operation after the removal of the punching, it is desired to provide means for removing said pieces and a preferred manner of accomplishing this is shown in Figures 2 and 8. The cam shaft 2| is provided with a cam I26 which rocks a lever I2? pivoted at I28 to a valve body I29 fastened to the wall It of the bed I5. The lever I2'I is provided with an adjustable screw I20 engageable against a. valve stem I3I carrying a valve I32 cooperating with a,valve seat I33 in the body I29. A chamber I34 on one side of the valve I is connected to a source of air pressure supplying air to said chamber through conduit I35. At the other side of the valve I3I there is arranged another chamber I36 to which is connected a fitting I31 having an elongated nozzle portion I38 which is directed towards and across the top face of the die. A coil spring I39 is arranged in the chamber I34 for maintaining the valve I3I upon its seat.

In'operation and in synchronization with the movement of the removal arm, the cam I26 acts to unseat the valve I3I and thereby permits the pressure in the conduit I to be manifested in the form of a. jet of air emanating from the nozzle I38. This will blow the fragments of material'clear of the die so it is again ready to receive a new piece of stock.

. In rsum, the operator standing in front of the feeding mechanism with his foot upon the pedal 32 places pieces of stock upon the replicas If he finds that the stock piece is too small to cover the replicas he discards that piece and supplies another in its place. So long as he continues to depress the pedal 32 the cam shaft will operate to perform its various functions and the feeding mechanism and press will operate to produce the desired results. Upon removal of his foot from the pedal 32 both the press and feeding mechanism will be rendered inoperative, since the declutching between the clutch members 23 and 26 will stop the feeding mechanism and therefore the cam shaft. The punch press will then be rendered inoperative since its trip mechanism is no longer acted on by the cam 93. From the foregoing it may be seen that a foolproof, safe, and highly efficient device has been disclosed in its preferred form of embodiment, and that many changes and innovations may be incorporated in the design without departing from the principles of the invention as hereinafter claimed. As an example of a change or addition which can be made, suction may be applied at each stock receiving station 46. This is illustrated in Figure 5 wherein the transfer table 35 is provided with a chamber I40 and apertures I4I connecting said chamber with the surface of said table, and the replicas of the parts to be formed are also apertured as at I42 to permit a low vacuum suction to be applied to the stock placed upon said replicas. This is accomplished through the medium of conduits I42 connected to a chamber I43 to which said low vacuum is applied as through a conduit I44. Another addition which may be incorporated is a brake or drag on the table 35 to insure that it does not over-run its feed.

Thus it can be seen that although the present disclosure has been carefully planned and designed, only experience will determine those fine refinements which are necessarily to be incorporated to provide a device of maximum efliciency.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination, a punch press, and means for feeding stock to said press, said means including an intermittently moving member having a plurality of circumferentially arranged statlons, for receiving irregularly shaped pieces of stock of greater contour than the contour of the part to be formed therefrom a likeness of the part formed from said stock by said press at each of said stations for guiding'the manual positioning of said stock on said member, and means for transferring said stock from said member to said press.

2. In combination, a punch press, means for feeding stock to said press, and means for removing the part formed from said stock from said press, said stock feeding means including an intermittently moving member provided with a plurality of stations, for receiving irregularly shaped pieces of stock of greater contour than the contour of the part to be formed therefrom and a likeness of the mentioned formed part at each station for guiding the positioning of said stock thereon.

3. In combination with a punch and die, an intermittently rotating member, uniformly spaced stations on said member, for receiving irregularly shaped pieces of stock of greater contour than the contour of the part to be formed therefrom a likeness of the piece produced by said punch and die at each station for guiding the position of said stock thereon, means for transferring said stock from said member to said die, and means for removing a formed part from 'said die.

4. In combination with a punch and die, an intermittently moving member, uniformly spaced stock receiving stations on said member, a likeness of the piece produced by said punch and die at each station for guiding the positioning of said stock thereon, means for transferring said stock from said member to said die, means for removing a formed piece from said die, and means for clearing the die of fragments of stock from which said piece is formed.

5. In combinationwith a punch press, a member having a plurality of stations each being adapted to support a piece of stock, means for intermittently moving said member, means for transferring a piece of stock from said member to said press, and means for removing said stock from said press, said transferring means and said removing means each comprising a member adapted to oscillate in a substantially horizontal plane and to reciprocate in a substantially vertical plane.

6. In combination, a press having a fixed die, a support for receiving pieces of stock to be fed to said die, means for intermittently rotating said support, said support being provided with stock receiving stations whereby a piece of stock placed upon a station remote from said die is intermittently moved towards said die, and means for transferring a piece of stock from one of the stations nearer to said die to said die.

7. In a device of the character described in combination, a stock support comprising a substantially round member having uniformly spaced stock receiving stations, a die position beyond the periphery of said support, means for intermittently rotating said support whereby a piece of stock placed at a station remote from the die is intermittently carried towards said die, and means for transferring said stock piece to said die from one of the nearer stations.

8. In combination with a punch press, means for driving the press, a separately driven shaft, a stock support, means on said shaft for intermittently moving said support, a. plurality of stock receiving stations on said support, means driven by said shaft for transferring said stock from said stations successively to said press, means also driven from said shaft for removing parts formed in said press from said stock, and means controlled from said shaft for coupling the driving means of the press to operate said press synchronously with the movements of the support, the transferring means, and the removing means.

9. In combination, a press having a punch and die, a support for receiving pieces of stock to be fed to said die, means for intermittently moving said support, said support being provided with stock receiving stations whereby a piece of stock placed upon a station remote from said die is intermittently moved towards said die, means for transferring a piece of stock from one of the stations nearer to said die to said die, and means for removing from the press the part formed by said punchin said die.

10. In combination, a press having a punch and die, a support for receiving pieces of stock to be fed to said die, means for intermittently moving said support, said support being provided with stock receiving stations whereby a piece of stock placed upon a station remote from said die is intermittently moved towards said die, means for transferring a piece of stock from one of the stations nearer to said die to said die, means for removing from the press the part formed by said punch in said die, and means for clearing said die of the remainder of the stock from which said part is formed.

11. In combination, a press having a punch and die, a support for receiving pieces of stock to be fed to said die, means for intermittently moving said support, said support being provided with stock receiving stations whereby a piece of stock placed upon a station remote from said die is intermittently moved towards said die, means for transferring a piece of stock from one of the stations nearer to said die to said die, means for removing from the press the part formed by said punch in said die, and means for clearing the die of the remainder of the stock from which said part is formed, said last mentioned means comprising a nozzle, means for supplying air under pressure to said nozzle, and valve means synchronously operable with the transferring and removing means for supplying a jet of air from said nozzle to the vicinity of the die.

12. In combination, a press having a punch and die, a support for receiving pieces of stock to be fed to said die, means for intermittently moving said support, said support being provided with stock receiving stations whereby a piece of stock placed upon a station remote from said die is intermittently moved towards said die, and means for transferring a piece of stock from one of the stations nearer to said die to said die, said means comprising an arm having a head adapted to engage said stock, and means for applying suction to said head during engagement thereof with the stock.

13. In combination, a press having a punch and die, a support for receiving pieces of stock to be fed to said die, means for intermittently moving said support, said support being provided with stock receiving stations whereby a piece of stock placed'upon a station remote from said die is intermittently moved towards said die, means for transferring a piece of stock from one of the stations nearer to said die to said die, and means for removing from the press the part formed by said punch in said die, said transferring means and said removing means each comprising an arm having a head, means for synchronously moving said arms, and meansfor applying suction to each head during the transferring and removing movements of the respective arms, and means for breaking said suction at the end of said movements.

MOSES D. HEYMAN. 

